Your Mammoth Weekend

My friends say I have an aversion to LA on the weekends. I don’t know if that is the case, but I certainly love taking off for a couple of days to destinations like SF, Paso, SD and, like in this past weekend, Mammoth. I’ve been to Mammoth 8 or 9 times now and really love it, if not just for seeing Sophie roam like the unicorn she is. I also love the local trails, the local brewery and a roaring fire coupled with homemade pizza.

My guide to Mammoth (originally published on Covalent Magazine on Oct. 12, 2014).

I love this brewery. They have an original tasting menu and a seasonal beer tasting menu and just moved into a brighter, newer, bigger, and dog-friendlier location. They have my favorite IPA (the Epic IPA) and their constantly award-winning Double Nut Porter. The tasting is generous, the bartenders attentive (and also bearded and in flannel #winning). They also have bottles, cans, and growlers for sale, which make great and thoughtful gifts.

This place is out-of-this-world. It’s a hugeee, shallow, saline lake with these massive salt/rock formations that make place look like Mars in the winter. It’s quiet, off the highway, and at the very least, a good photo opp. I spent hours here taking photos and enjoying the nothingness of the place.

This place is renowned for its amazing bread. I like to stop off and get sandwiches for a picnic (i.e the mule kick – spicy mustard roast beef with jalapenos – I can’t). They also have a ton of different pastries, loaves of bread, cookies, and preserves. My all-time favorite jam ever is the raspberry peach champagne jam. I put that stuff on everything. It’s like unicorn love in a jar.

I love hiking, but I might love the sustenance after a long hike better. This hike can be 20 minutes or four hours, but either way you need to end up at Pie in the Sky, a little bakery at Rock Creek Lakes Resort and so famous, they generally sell-out by lunch time. Only open in the warm months, their pie crust is phenomenal. They only sell by the slice, so get like 8 slices and sit out at their picnic benches and inhale like an animal.

Here are some photos from my weekend – from Mono Lake (my otherworldly favorite place to visit) and Sophie in various poses.